Saudi Arabia allocates $1 bln for energy projects with Russia

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MOSCOW, October 4. /TASS/. Saudi Arabia has already held talks with a dozen Russian energy companies and has certain developments, projects, plans for cooperation, Russian Minister of Energy Alexander Novak said in an interview with TASS.

"Minister of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources of Saudi Arabia has already been to Moscow and St. Petersburg several times, he already had talks with around ten leading Russian energy companies and they already have certain developments, projects, plans for cooperation," he said.

Novak noted that cooperation between the two countries is not limited to the OPEC+ agreement.

"Yes, thanks to the agreement, we began to communicate more with each other, but continuation of our interaction does not depend on the extension of the deal. In addition to OPEC, we have an intergovernmental commission for trade and economic cooperation, "he said.

According to the minister, the countries could get closer due to common interests, especially in the energy sector, as Saudi Arabia is interested in Russian technologies in oil production, oil exploration and services.

"We have mining, exploration and service technologies that are of interest to our colleagues. Now they mainly use services of international companies such as Schlumberger, Halliburton, Weatherford. Therefore, the more players on the market, the more obvious is the economic effect for consumers of these services," Novak said.

At the same time, according to the minister, Russia and Iran are already entering the first deals to buy Iranian oil, the mechanism of interaction is being finalized. "We are already entering certain first deals, now the mechanism of interaction is being finalized," he said.

"Saudi Arabia allocates $1 bln for energy projects," he said.

It was reported earlier that Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and King of Saudi Arabia Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud intend to discuss joint investment projects at a meeting in Moscow on October 6.

"The sides will also touch upon issues of bilateral cooperation in trade, economy, industry, energy, agriculture and other areas, consider implementation of major joint infrastructure projects," according to the press service of the Russian government.

General Director of the Russian Direct Investment Fund Kirill Dmitriev told reporters earlier that Saudi Arabia's investment in Russia will exceed $1 bln after the announcement of new landmark deals during the visit of Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud to Moscow on October 5.